Kinesis Advantage Review: Long-Term Evaluation
by Jarred Walton on July 2, 2013 10:15 PM ESTClosing Thoughts: Advantage, Kinesis
I spent more than a month typing on the TECK before moving on to the Kinesis Advantage. The initial learning curve with the Advantage wasn’t as steep for me, and while part of that may be the similar orthogonal key layouts, I think the layout on the TECK requires more effort to learn. I don’t know that anyone can really declare either keyboard as superior, but every user is likely to prefer one more than the other. I happen to be lucky in that I got a chance to try out both.
My initial thoughts were that the TECK and Kinesis are really just different takes on the same idea—mechanical ergonomic keyboards. After returning to the TECK to do some additional use, however, I’m now convinced that the TECK requires more effort to learn, and in fact if you stop using it for a month or two and return you’ll have to retrace some lost ground. Today for instance, after numerous attempts, I managed to get no better than 55WPM on the TECK in any of the typing tests—15 to 20WPM off of what I was doing back when I finished the TECK review. On the other hand, I pulled out an MS Natural and was able to get good results within a few minutes.
A big part of the difference is in the key arrangements; TECK changes a lot more relative to the standard keyboards, whereas the Kinesis layout puts a bunch of stuff on your thumbs but otherwise leaves most keys where you’d find them on other keyboards. Maybe it’s just personal preference, but the center column of Start, Delete, Tab, Backspace, and Enter on the TECK doesn’t work nearly as well for me as the thumb pad arrangements on the Kinesis. On the other hand, I generally had a better time with the cursor keys and document navigation keys on the TECK, and while it can cause some issues at first, I think moving Shift up to home row is an ergonomically sound idea.
There are other aspects to consider as well. The TECK is definitely more compact than the Advantage, even with the palm rest attached; without it, the TECK is positively diminutive in comparison. The Advantage also has a few additional features like USB ports, macro recording/playback, and built-in key remapping. None of these are “must haves” in my opinion, but they’re all potential perks that make a good product just a bit better.
I know that I’m not a very good study in “typical” computer use—I have several desktops that I switch between, plus laptops come and go almost weekly. That means I tend to like things that don’t mix it up too much, at least in the keyboard arena (these two keyboard reviews notwithstanding), and in this case the layout of the Kinesis Advantage simply works out better for me than the TECK. It also costs more, but the good news is that both companies offer money back guarantees. If you’re looking for a good ergonomic keyboard, there’s at least the potential to give both of them a try and then keep whichever one you like the most. The Kinesis Advantage will set you back $299 for the model I reviewed, or $325 for a model with Cherry MX Red switches; the Advantage Pro bumps the price up to $359 but you also get longer macros and a single-action foot switch. The TECK rings up at $248 (plus shipping and such), so about $50 less than the base model Advantage.
There’s still one more keyboard that I’ve got waiting for some serious attention: the ErgoDox via MassDrop. I almost cringe at the thought of having to go through “keyboard rehabilitation” yet again, as just poking around at it is enough to let me know that yet again there’s a completely new layout to come to grips with. I suspect by the time I’m done I’m still going to end up back with the Kinesis as my favorite of the bunch, but there’s something cool about a keyboard that you can build on your own if you want, with the design released under the GNU GPL v3. The MassDrop option isn’t currently available, but if enough people express interest in it I’m sure it will open up again. Now pardon me while I go cry a bit before unplugging this Kinesis and starting in on a full review of the ErgoDox….
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rs2 - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
More discussion of the gaming aspect would have been welcome. Like actually loading up a couple of multiplayer games and comparing the average player ranking you achieve on one keyboard versus another.What's it matter how fast you can type on this keyboard, if it's useless for games?
JarredWalton - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - link
I mentioned this on page three, that the split makes it less practical for many games. Frankly, I'm nowhere near a competitive enough gamer to make my rankings at all meaningful. As to your question: it's an ergonomic keyboard, designed specifically for typists. What's it matter if it's useful for games? That's like asking for battery life numbers from a desktop system. Perhaps that's too far; it's like criticizing a professional GPU because it runs games slower than a consumer GPU.Q: How fast can the new NVIDIA Tesla cards run Crysis 3?
A: They can't, as they have no video outputs, but more importantly: who cares?
rs2 - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
Maybe, but how many people use their computer *just* in the capacity of a typist? There are probably some in that category, particularly when you consider applications in the professional/office context. But if you're a company that makes these kind of products, it seems like you'd want to avoid being stuck in such a narrow niche?I'd be interested in having a more efficient keyboard, but not if it's going to be impossible to play games with. I do both things on my computer; so I care, for one. Probably there are at least a few others in that boat with me.
Maybe someone will cook up a 'transformer-style' version of this keyboard, where it can be arranged into full ergonomic mode for fast and comfortable typing and easily switched over to a more conventional layout for gaming. Shouldn't be terribly difficult, though would certainly drive up costs.
fluxtatic - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
The company I work for sell buttloads of ergonomic furniture - inverted keyboard trays, oddly uncomfortable ergo mice, what have you. There is also a surprisingly large market for custom-fitted ergo chairs that cost $2000+. I also work with a number of people that use the more conventional split-style keyboards and don't use computers at home virtually at all.Just because you don't understand a market doesn't mean it doesn't exist
Murloc - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
actually gamers are a minority, and it's the office people that get hurt due to computer overuse.damianrobertjones - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
"Maybe, but how many people use their computer *just* in the capacity of a typist? " - Thousands and thousands of people within business.MrSpadge - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
In the games I like to play (RPG, Strategy) you can often remap the keys yourself. In this case you shouldn't have much trouble creating soem config which works well with this keyboard. A Shooter without remapping miht be another story, though.jasonelmore - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
Gaming is the niche market, not office style typing.Bonesdad - Wednesday, July 3, 2013 - link
To be honest MOST people use their computer "just" in the capacity of a typist, or at least the vast majority of the time. This is clearly not a keyboard designed for gamers...that should be obvious from a glance. Gamers are a minority of the computer using crowd, esp with the advent of consoles.ShieTar - Thursday, July 4, 2013 - link
I think you are ignoring the fact here that most of those "MOST" people use two finger typing. People willing to use a strangely distorted Keyboard are the true minority (even my own MS natural is causing most people into massive confusion), but within this group of people willing to invest time into getting used to new hardware, gamers are unlikely to be a minority.That being said, this keyboard looks like its only an option for people who plan to never, ever use a notebook again. At least, I personally could never imagine to invest hundreds of hours into learning a new keyboard just to keep switching between keyboards extremely different.